What is Social Value and Why It Matters
Social value means the wider good that organisations and public bodies do. It goes beyond the goods or services they provide.
If you bid for public care contracts, you need to understand social value and show it. It is now key to winning. Councils, NHS trusts and integrated care boards now often score social value as a key part of their buying decisions.
Care providers who can explain their social value clearly stand out from rivals. They show they care about the community, and they can lift their tender scores. Social value covers jobs, the environment, the local economy, fair access to health and community links. Care providers make a real difference in all of these.
How Social Value Connects to the Procurement Act 2023
Social Value Shift
The Procurement Act 2023 strengthens and clarifies social value requirements beyond the 2012 Act. Whilst the 2012 Act was permissive, allowing commissioners to consider social value, the 2023 Act ensures social value sits at the heart of procurement strategy. The National Procurement Policy Statement puts value for money first. It also asks buyers to focus on social, economic and environmental outcomes.
Health & Care Impact
The 2023 Act brings a more detailed approach to scoring social value. Commissioners must define social value for their own setting. In health and social care, this means explaining how you will support local health plans, fair access to health, a strong local economy and community wellbeing. Care providers must understand both Acts and position their services within this evolving legal landscape.
Social Value in Care Tenders
Our guide explains the Social Value Act, tender criteria and the TOMs framework. It shows care providers how to plan, measure and prove social value commitments they can keep.
Social Value in Care Tenders: How Commissioners Evaluate
Structured Framework for Social Value Assessment
Councils and NHS commissioners use a set framework to score social value in care tenders. Tenders are usually scored on price and quality. Social value sits within the quality score. Panels score how you will deliver each social value theme over the life of the contract.
Tailored Social Value Criteria by Service Type
Commissioning teams define social value criteria tailored to their area. For adult social care, this might mean jobs for local people, support for unpaid carers or smaller health gaps. For children's services, buyers may focus on community links, family support or learning. Read the tender documents carefully. Find out what social value the buyer wants and how much it counts in the score.
Social Value Scoring
Where the tender includes social value award criteria, evaluation panels score the response against the published method. The weighting is tender-specific. Commitments should be relevant, in proportion and measurable. Back each one with a written baseline, a budget, a delivery plan and a lawful way to carry it out.
The TOMs Framework: Themes, Outcomes, Measures
Introduction to the TOMs Framework
The Social Value Portal developed the Themes, Outcomes, Measures (TOMs) framework as a standardised approach to measuring social value. The TOMs framework categorises social value into distinct themes, each with specific outcomes and measures. Using TOMs terms in your answers shows clear thinking. It also shows you understand what buyers expect.
Key TOMs Themes and Outcomes
The main TOMs themes are economic growth and local investment, skills and employment, and health and wellbeing. They also include community engagement and social cohesion, and environmental sustainability. Each theme has outcomes you can measure. Under skills and employment, for example, you might count apprentices, the share of staff hired locally or training places created. Care providers choose the TOMs themes and outcomes most relevant to their organisation and services.
Measuring Social Value with TOMs
TOMs can structure measurement where the buyer uses or accepts that framework, but it is not a universal statutory requirement. Treat any number in an example as a sample only. Replace it with your own target, backed by your written baseline, budget, delivery plan and a lawful way to deliver it.
Common Social Value Themes in Care Tenders
Care tenders focus on a few social value themes. These are staff, the local economy, the environment and community wellbeing.
Employment and Skills
Employment and skills represent the strongest social value theme for care providers. Care providers employ a lot of people. They can commit to hiring locally, offering apprenticeships and training their staff. Buyers value commitments to hire from groups who find work hard to get. They also value staff promotion and training that meets workforce needs.
Local Economic Growth and Supply Chain Benefits
Local economic growth and supply chain benefits form another important theme. Care providers commission equipment, uniforms, services, and supplies. You can commit to buying from local small firms, social enterprises or community groups. This shows you add to the local economy. Define 'local' by postcode district or council area to be specific.
Environmental Sustainability
More care tenders now ask about the environment. Providers can set targets to cut carbon, buy in a greener way, reduce waste and make travel greener. Health and care services have a large effect on the environment. Showing you care about it fits NHS net zero targets and council plans for the environment.
Community wellbeing and health equity address core care sector aims. Care providers might commit to reducing health gaps for groups that are often missed. They might support unpaid carers or volunteer locally. They might also involve the people they support, and their families, in how the service is designed. These commitments show you share the buyer's values.
Writing Social Value Responses That Score Maximum Marks
The best social value answers are clear and measurable. They rest on evidence and match what the buyer wants.
Understanding Commissioner Priorities
Winning social value responses share common characteristics. First, they demonstrate clear understanding of the commissioner's context and priorities. Read the council's health and wellbeing strategy, the integrated care strategy and its plans for the local economy. Then link your social value commitments to these plans.
Measurable Commitments
Second, they make specific, measurable commitments, not vague hopes. Only use a number as a target if you have a written baseline, a budget, a delivery plan and a lawful way to deliver it. Include targets and timescales that are proportionate to the contract and supported by evidence.
Evidence of Past Delivery
Third, high scoring answers prove what you have delivered before. Strong bids point to similar commitments kept on past contracts. They give case examples and quotes from past commissioners. Proof from past contracts gives buyers confidence that you will deliver. If this is your first contract, explain how you will ensure delivery through monitoring systems and partnership working.
Monitoring and Reporting Plans
Fourth, responses include robust monitoring and reporting plans. Specify how you will collect data, report progress, and address underperformance. Set out when you will report each quarter and who is responsible. Explain how you will keep improving. Buyers want to know you will manage and report social value for the whole contract.
Value for Money
Fifth, responses demonstrate value for money. Social value commitments should not increase contract cost. Instead, frame social value as integral to service delivery. Hiring locally may cost no more than hiring nationally. Green measures may cut running costs. Community work may improve the service at no extra cost. Position social value as good practice rather than cost burden.
Social Value Examples for Care Providers
Strong social value answers make practical commitments about staff, the community and the environment.
Local Recruitment
Local recruitment commitments might state: 'We will recruit 85 percent of new care staff from within the local authority area, rising to 95 percent within two years. We will advertise jobs through local jobcentres, community groups and local media before we look nationally.'
Apprenticeships and Training
Make apprenticeship and training commitments fit the contract. Back them with a written baseline, a budget, a delivery plan and lawful hiring and employment practice. Do not copy illustrative numbers into a bid without verifying capacity to deliver them.
Community Engagement
A community example might read: 'We will set up a community advisory group of the people we support, carers and local people. It will meet every three months to help shape the service. Group members will sit on interview panels, help train staff and help review the service.'
Health Equity
A health equity commitment might read: 'We will reach out to groups that are often missed. These include people with learning disabilities, LGBTQ+ people and people from ethnic minorities. We will offer easy to read information, advocacy and care that respects each person's culture, to reduce health gaps.
Carer Support
Carer support could read: 'We will set up a support programme for unpaid carers. It will offer information, advice and access to respite. We will employ a dedicated carer liaison officer and create an annual carers' event. We will measure carer wellbeing and quality of life improvements.'
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental commitments should fit the tender. Back each one with a written baseline of your emissions, a budget, a delivery plan and a lawful way to carry it out. Only use targets and reports you can prove and deliver.
Social Value in Care Tenders
Our guide explains the Social Value Act, tender criteria and the TOMs framework. It shows care providers how to plan, measure and prove social value commitments they can keep.
Social Value in Supported Living and Domiciliary Care Contracts
Social value matters a great deal in supported living and domiciliary care contracts. It shapes outcomes for the people supported and their communities.
Social Value in Community-Based Care Services
Supported living and domiciliary care tenders give social value a lot of weight. These services support people who need help to live in their community. They help people stay independent and well. Social value commitments should fit the aims of the service. They should show better outcomes for the people you support and their communities.
Supported Living Social Value Commitments
In supported living, social value might focus on helping people into work, taking part in community life and relying less on formal care. Providers could help the people they support find work. They could offer local volunteering, or work with local firms to set up work experience.
Domiciliary Care Social Value Priorities
More domiciliary care tenders now ask for commitments on carer support, local hiring and community work. Providers might commit to hiring care workers locally and giving them training and a path to promotion. They might also set up groups where staff help shape the service. Supporting care staff helps the people they care for. It means steadier, better care.
Measuring and Reporting Social Value: SROI and Proxy Values
Social Return on Investment (SROI) offers a framework for quantifying social value. SROI analyses how much social value is created for every pound invested. Working out SROI can get complex, but the idea is simple. List the outcomes and give each a money value using standard proxies. Then compare the total social value with what you put in.
Proxy values come from research and established datasets. For example, research puts a money value on job support, apprenticeships and better health. Providers can reference established proxies such as the wellbeing value of employment or the health benefits of social connection. Using standard proxies makes your figures more credible. It also makes them easy to compare with other bids.
A yearly report tells the buyer what social value you have delivered. Reporting should be transparent, timely, and evidence-based. Providers demonstrate commitments met, outcomes achieved, and challenges addressed. Regular reporting builds trust, allows corrective action if needed, and provides data for contract renewal discussions.
Common Mistakes Providers Make With Social Value Submissions
Avoid the common mistakes below. Your answer will be more credible and easier to deliver.
Lack of Integration with Service Delivery
The most common mistake is treating social value as separate from core service delivery. Strong responses integrate social value throughout. Providers frame social value not as addition to contracts but as central to how they deliver quality care. Building it in makes it workable and shows shared values.
Non-Specific Commitments
Another common mistake is vague commitments. 'We support the local community' scores badly without detail. Specific commitments with targets, dates and evidence show you mean it. Vagueness suggests social value is secondary rather than embedded.
Overpromising Outcomes
Overpromising creates risk. Some providers commit to targets they cannot reach, then fail to deliver. This damages reputation and contract relationships. Only commit to what you can really deliver. Back it with evidence and good monitoring.
Ignoring Commissioner Context
Ignoring commissioner context is another common mistake. Good answers deal with the priorities set out in the tender and in local plans. Generic statements that would fit any tender waste the chance to show you fit this one.
Weak Monitoring and Reporting Systems
Finally, many providers forget to plan how they will track and report. During tenders, providers commit to measurement and reporting. If systems are not established, measurement becomes difficult and reporting suffers. Invest in systems before tender submission.
How Care Sync Experts Helps Care Providers Maximise Social Value Scores
Social Value Strategy and Tender Support
Care Sync Experts works with care providers to develop robust social value strategies and tender responses. We help you pick the right social value themes and write clear commitments. We also help you show proof that you can deliver them. We help with your strategy, write your tender answers and plan how you will track delivery after the award.
Aligning Commitments with Commissioner Priorities
We study the buyer's priorities and the local area. That way your answer meets the needs they have found. We work with your team to find the social value you already create, which is often missed. Then we help you add new commitments that you can deliver. We write clear, specific commitments with targets you can measure and realistic dates.
Evidence, Monitoring, and Delivery Planning
We review proof of what you have delivered before. Then we help you describe past commitments and results clearly. We develop monitoring and reporting plans that are achievable and transparent. Throughout the process, we ensure social value is positioned as integral to your service offer, not added cost or afterthought.
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